WANTED FOR SEXUAL ASSAULT – The Hudson County Prosecutor’s Office released this sketch of a man they are looking for in connection with an alleged sexual assault that took place in Hoboken last week (see brief).

The Hoboken Police Department and Hudson County Prosecutor’s Office are searching for a man whom they say sexually assaulted a woman in the hallway of an apartment building near First and Monroe Streets early last Saturday morning.

The woman, who is in her thirties, was walking home around 1:15 a.m. on Saturday when she was assaulted by the man, who police described as a husky white or Hispanic male with a fair complexion and in his late thirties to early forties. A statement from the prosecutor also said the man weighed from 180 to 200 pounds, had brown eyes, blonde hair, a blonde goatee, and scruffy beard.

He was last seen wearing a dark-colored hooded sweatshirt, dark jeans, and backward cap. He ran in an unknown direction after the attack, the statement said.

Any members of the public are asked to contact the prosecutor’s Special Victims Unit at (201) 915-1234. All calls will remain confidential.

Judge dismisses some of housing director’s claims against Zimmer but allows another to stand

An ongoing court battle between Mayor Dawn Zimmer and state Assemblyman Carmelo Garcia, who has a full-time job heading the city’s public housing authority, resulted in minor victories for both sides last week when a judge dismissed Garcia’s claims that Zimmer retaliated against him professionally, but allowed Garcia to continue to charge that Zimmer violated Garcia’s civil rights.

Judge Lawrence Maron dismissed some of Garcia’s claims – made under the Conscientious Employee Protection Act (CEPA) – that alleged Zimmer threatened to fire him if he didn’t direct housing authority contracts to politically connected firms. Garcia technically doesn’t work for Zimmer, meaning she could not legally fire him.

But Maron allowed another of Garcia’s charges, that Zimmer, former housing board Chairman Jake Stuiver, and Stan Grossbard, Zimmer’s husband, allegedly threatened his right to free speech by allegedly making Garcia believe he might lose job security if he did not support the mayor politically.

“It’s a big victory for Mr. Garcia,” Luis Zayas, Garcia’s attorney, told NJ.com. “We hope that this will bring Mayor Zimmer’s political improprieties to the public’s attention and hopefully put a stop to it.”

An attorney for Zimmer, Gerald Krovatin, could not be reached for comment when called last week.

On Thursday, Grossbard, who was named as a co-defendant along with Zimmer, issued a statement on the judge’s ruling in which he discussed a lunch he had with Garcia last January. The lunch was secretly taped by Garcia, though Grossbard and Garcia are at odds as to why. Garcia says it was an effort to gather evidence about Grossbard’s complicity in Zimmer’s alleged retaliation against him, while Grossbard has maintained that it was an effort to entrap him.

“Carmelo Garcia invited me to lunch and secretly taped the conversation. He and his lawyer Louis Zayas have repeatedly lied about what occurred. Their lies are clearly and directly refuted by their own secret tape recording, even as reflected in the sloppy and apparently doctored transcript they prepared and used in a prior litigation,” said Grossbard. “I am confident that the legal process will result both in the truth becoming known and in both these individuals being held fully accountable for their actions.”

Garcia’s original lawsuit, which alleged that Zimmer was on a mission to “ethnically cleanse” Hoboken of minorities like Garcia, who is Puerto Rican, was filed last summer but thrown out by a judge. It was refiled without the ethnic cleansing claims in January, as was a motion from Zimmer seeking to dismiss the claims.

For extensive coverage of the suit, originally filed in August, use the search engine at hudsonreporter.com.

Hoboken Board of Ed. approves shorter spring break, extra days at end of year to make up for snow days

Six snow days throughout the past few months may have been a pleasant surprise for Hoboken’s youngsters, but they’re not getting off scot-free.

On Tuesday night, the Board of Education voted to cut three days off of the tail end of next month’s Spring Break and add two half-days onto the last week of school.

See the changes on the revised academic calendar posted on the district website.

For Spring Break, public school students will be off on Good Friday and the following Monday and Tuesday. They will now report to school for full days on April 23-25.

At the end of the year, they will have additional half days on June 24 and 25.

Hudson Regional Health Commission conducting online Sandy survey

Hudson Regional Health Commission has received a grant to conduct a health and wellbeing needs assessment for residents and business owners in Hudson County affected by Superstorm Sandy, the group announced this week. All residents and business owners are encouraged to complete the short survey. This includes, but is not limited to, those who were victims of flooding, power loss or are experiencing stress from the storm.

Through this survey, the group hopes to gain insight on the types of unmet needs that exist in the community. It will then develop a plan to connect individuals to the services they may need for recovery, according to a statement from the group.

If you are a resident or a business owner in Hudson County, your input is very important in order to ensure that any recovery efforts as a result of this survey are directed to all those affected by Superstorm Sandy.

The survey can be found online at https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/HRHCsandysurvey.

Hudson Regional Health Commission will also be conducting focus group discussions about the storm. Participants are encouraged to share any experiences they may have about Superstorm Sandy. Food and refreshments will be served and transportation costs will be reimbursed.

If you have any questions, or would like to participate in a Sandy focus group discussion please contact Public Health Emergency Preparedness Program Representative Paul Teodoro at (201) 223-1133 or pteodoro@hudsonregionalhealth.org .